Black Sunshine
by BlackSunshine13
Summary: How do you survive a zombie outbreak? Well, read and you'll find out.
1. The Beginning of the End

May 3rd, 2010 – 12:00

"Shit."

That was all Ray Gott could say as another chemistry experiment flowed out of the vial, disgorging the bubbly, chartreuse bile inside. Ever since the original chemistry teacher Prof. Cooper had resigned, nearly every test, experiment, and concoction had gone awry. The uncanny spills and accidents were usually dismissed as simple coincidences, yet a strange uneasiness had settled around all that entered his former classroom.

Sure, lots of teachers might just suddenly throw in the towel one day―Prof. Cooper was no exception―but what no one could understand was _why_ he had suddenly packed his bags and left. He hadn't hinted at any particular reason beforehand, but merely asked calmly to be excused and quit right after. And why had he looked so feverish before he left? So many other questions to ask, but no one could give a decent answer. Rumours whirled around the campus, but still not a single person knew anything about Prof. Cooper's strange leaving.

14:00

"I'm not so sure about this…"

"C'mon! It'll be like a test. All you have to do is find a way to systematically lead everyone away from that one room. Please!" begged Ray. Alison hesitated for a minute. She really didn't want to get into any trouble. After all, she was Alison Silvers; Ms. Perfect. _But then again, how could I really get into trouble?_ She thought to herself. After a never-ending second, she relented.

"Oh fine. I mean, what could possibly go wrong? But, I want to know EVERYTHING. I'm going to give you a pad of paper and 2 pencils, just in case you break one. Now I want you to write in as much detail as possible, but don't include all those little things, and make sure to get out FAST. We're technically breaking in, you know?"

A snide voice cut in. "Hi guys… I hear you're talking about breaking in? Oh, you guys are in trouble…Heck, can I help?" Ray and Alison whipped around. It was Zack Black. No one knew how Zack got accepted into University; he was about as thick-skulled as a dinosaur.

"Crap," Ray muttered sarcastically, "Just what we need."

"Well, we _will_ need another person on the lookout," said Alison to Ray apathetically. Then she turned to Zack. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to tag you along. Just don't give our position away, alright?" Zack nodded.

The plan was simple: Get into the classroom, do some investigating, find some evidence, and get the hell out. How hard could that have been?

21:00

It was way past class hours. The hallways were one long, dark abyss, with the ebbing sunlight leaking out of the classrooms as their only source of light. The three crept silently down the halls, looking left and right for teachers or students that may have remained.

Finally, they arrived at Mr. Cooper's room. Vials, skeletons and diagrams cast looming shadows from inside, while trees and animals threw streaks of darkness around. The patterns of black on gray had a strange hypnotizing effect, but the trio shook their heads and got to work. The problem was, they had no idea what to look for, much less any idea where it could be.

Ray glanced around the room. His eyes landed on the computer that was sitting on Prof. Cooper's desk and he suddenly knew what to do. There had to be some information on why he'd disappeared on such short notice.

"Zack, I've got an idea," Ray whispered, "I want you to keep a look out for any people that might be coming."

"Alright!" shouted Zack merrily.

"Oh, god… Just shut up."

Ray got to work, his fingers zipping from key to key silently, his eyes glued to the screen. It had been harder than he thought. After 7 years of hacking into high-security systems and government documents, he didn't think he'd ever see this kind of system again. But, at least he got in. He started to search through the files. Most of them were lectures from class, or experiment handouts. Then, something caught his eye. It was a restricted file, coded with name 00000000000. After breaking and deciphering the code, he found out the name of file was called _Subject Zero_. He opened the document. It read:

**I've recently discovered a new substance. It's a virus called Solanium. Apparently, studies have shown that—**

CRASH! Ray started, and turned around to glare at the source of the sound. Zack had knocked over a cabinet, emptying the contents all over the floor. Fragments of glass littered the tiles, and a dark, red liquid was spreading from a giant puddle at the front of the class. Ray wrinkled his nose in disgust as a pungent, salty smell filled the air.

"Whoops…" Zack grinned nervously.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Alison hissed, straining to keep her voice quiet. "Do you have any idea what'll happen to us if anyone heard that?"

"It's okay; I'll just clean it up right now so no one will know!" Zack replied. He grabbed a random cleaning cloth from the blackboard and bent over to wipe the mess.

Alison hastily held out her hand to restrain Zack. "No, don't even think about it. You have no idea what that liquid is; it could be some sort of corrosive acid for all we know! Just leave it and let's get out of here. I'm sure the janitor will clean it up."

"Hey guys, wait a bit, alright? I need to do something." Ray called out to the two who were running out of the classroom. He quickly printed out a copy of the document, turned off the computer, and dashed out of the room. He'd have to take a look at it tomorrow. Now, it was time to get back to the dormitory and finish up that 10-page Latin essay.

**_Notes about this Chapter:  
_**Hey guys! If you haven't read all of the chapter yet, **GET THE HELL BACK TO READING CHEATER!** These are my notes, giving you some info on how the story was created and where we might go with this. And when I mean we, I mean the crew and I. Only consisting of my good friend Kelsie. Now, will you give Kelsie a round of applause? As a winner of a spelling bee, she's entitled to edit all my work. And criticize my every move. And get angry at me for every little grammatical error. (JOKING ABOUT THE LATTER 2, though, it doesn't matter.)***Btw, Kelsie pointed out to me that my spelling of criticize had been wrong. LOL. Apparently I wasn't joking about the latter 2.***But something else I do want to get into are the characters. Most names are revised versions of friends.

**So**, yes, the psychopath you're going to see later on will be a slight adaptation of my friend.  
And yes, I spoiled your experience.  
And no, I don't give a rat's ass about whether that offends you or not.

_And now for a little character preview!_ Mr. Ray Gott is our main character. A jack of all trades in some essence. He's a university student in (UNKOWN PLACE IN N. AMERICA), who's served for the military. I had originally planned for the big character to be just an average joe who learns a little from everyone, but I later wanted to base the character on one of my heroes and good friend, Ray. Take a bow Ray!


	2. The Terror Arises

**CHAPTER 2**

May 24th, 2010 – 08:30

"What the hell just happened?!!" came a shriek from the science classroom.

Kate, Dean, and Tom were undergraduates who came to class early to make a good impression for their assignment. The 3 were racing for the classroom entrance at top speed, laughing and grabbing at each other. Unfortunately, they were soon to be victims of a dastardly trap. A mysterious, red liquid covered the entrance to the classroom, littered with miniscule shards of glass.

Kate had reached the door first, and was shoved forward when Dean miscalculated his speed. WHAM! Kate tumbled right into the slippery mess. Dean and Tom veered in next, oblivious of the spill until their feet flew out from underneath them. Glass crunched and the liquid splashed everywhere.

When they had all gotten their bearings, they stood up to check their conditions. Kate looked down at what the slip had done to her outfit and her normally smug face twisted with rage. Her blue skirt was stained a deep purple, which now matched her cardigan. Her white tank top was soaked, and her hair was ruined. An angry, red line scored by a chunk of glass ran from her upper-left calf to her ankle. Dean and Tom had been luckier, even though they had a few cuts on their bare arms. Most of their shirts were dry, though their pants were riddled with tears from the glass. All 3 had numerous small cuts on their hands and legs. They were all in shock, staring at one another; even when students started to flock into the halls. Many of the guys had stopped to stare dumbly at Kate.

"Whoever spilled all that is gonna pay… BIG TIME!" yelled Kate, as soon as she snapped out of her stupor. "Stop staring! And Dean, get the janitor! HMPH!" She snatched up all of their papers―which surprisingly had stayed dry―and threw herself onto a chair to inspect her cuts. Tom muttered a curse to the sky and gave the finger to some students while he gripped his cross. He prayed to God that he wouldn't be punished for that.

"You heard the girl. And someone get the goddamn janitor," Dean snapped, glaring at everyone. The stunned by-passers murmured a bit, and then one of them ran off to the janitor's office. Moments later, the janitor arrived in his grey jumpsuit, holding his grimy mop and sloppy pail of water. He bent over to clean the spill, and the 3 undergraduates scurried out of the way. As he wiped up the mess, he was cut by one of the shards of glass. He looked at the laceration apathetically and went back to cleaning.

When he dumped some cleaning agents onto the floor, he asked in a deep, raspy voice, "Will everyone please stay out of the room? And you 3 go to the nurse's office right now." He scratched his matted grey hair and walked away. Kate, Dean, and Thomas walked out of the classroom and towards the hospital wing. Their wounds had started to sting, so they sped up their pace until they were standing in front of the wooden door that had the words "Infirmary" written on it.

9:00

Alison jumped out of bed excitedly as soon as she heard her alarm clock ring.

"Get up sleepy head!" she yelled to her roommate, Jessica. "Really, Jessica Nicole Wilson, you're so lazy!" Alison never called her best friend by her full name unless she was really serious. Jessica groaned and rolled over until she was sitting up.

They both got up and folded their beds, and then they both changed their clothes in unison. First their pants, then their shirt, and finally any additional accessories. That was the routine every day; they were BFF's, so they HAD to do everything together. Jessica and Alison never wore the same thing as the other on the same day. Today, Jessica slipped on a pair of pink shorts, a black t-shirt, and her spike studded rocker bracelet. Alison wore faded-blue jeans, a green t-shirt with the words "SmartAss" on it, and strapped on her calendar-calculator-watch.

Both of them entered the bathroom at the same time and brushed their teeth. They then proceeded to brush their hair side-by-side. Jessica's silky blonde hair glistened in the light as she gave it a quick brush. In the mirror, her bright, peach skin combined with her flashing hazel eyes hinted at her fiery spirit. Alison had a slightly harder time getting herself ready. Constant stress and staying up late had caused her straight, sand-coloured hair to tangle. Her pale skin and ice-blue irises only accented the purple rings under her eyes. Alison looked up at Jessica, who was standing straight and perfect.

"Lucky," she sighed. With that, they grabbed their stuff and skipped to their first class.

9:04

Ray woke after a quiet, restful sleep. But his content feeling didn't last very long. He opened his eyes to sunlight streaming in from the window and bolted upright. He had slept in! His roommate, Zeke, had already left for first period, as the bed beside him was empty. Zeke's pyjamas had been tossed in a pile on the floor, and the lights in the kitchen―well, it was really just a 3 by 3 feet space consisting of a stove and fridge―had been left on. Ray stretched out his stiff legs and stumbled over to the bathroom to take a look in the mirror. His bald head shone in the bright light and he put his hands on his forehead.

Four years ago, he had been sent off to war. Sometimes, Ray still had that same recurring nightmare. The one where everything―the screams, the horrible stench, even the whistle of bombs being dropped―seemed so horribly real. Yet it was nothing compared to the pain and blood…Oh God, there was so much of it, as far as the eye could see. A living hell, that's what it was. But Ray had been lucky. He had been saved by one of his very good friends, Calvin, from an almost certain death by a knife wound. He rubbed the tattoo on the side of his neck, slowly moving his index finger across the light pink scar that slashed through the pattern. After the war, Ray moved here to study as well as hang out with Calvin. He wondered what his good friend was doing right now.

But it was no time to reminisce, he had to get to his philosophy class in about 20 seconds or face detention at the hands of Prof. Talwar. He threw on some navy blue slacks and a white Nike golf shirt. He scrounged up the stuff for his next few classes and dashed out of the room with a quick snack bar.

16:00

Kate, Dean, and Tom had come down with a mysterious ailment. Ever since around 13:00, they had suddenly contracted a fever that was getting worse every minute. They were all throwing up and had constant fits of hysteria and dementia. Now, they were starting to feel numb in certain areas of their body. As Tom prayed to god for forgiveness, Kate looked past him to check on the janitor in his own bed, unconscious.

The janitor had been wheeled into the hospital wing from his own office only minutes after the 3 sick students had settled into their cots. The janitor seemed to be experiencing the same symptoms as they were, and he definitely wasn't getting any better either. If anything, the janitor looked like he was in even worse condition than they were. Suddenly, Kate's mind pieced two and two together, and she started to feel real fear.

"Guys, what the hell is happening to us? Do you think it was that creepy red stuff?" shuddered Kate.

"Possibly. I'm gonna kill the bastard who put that stuff there," snarled Dean. Tom just closed his eyes and was silent.

May 5th, 2010 – 0:00

"Wait, what do you mean COMATOSIS?" Ray looked at Zeke, perplexed.

"Yeah, I had that LULWUT face like when I got stuck on Continuity on level 28 and, well, when you've been at it for―"

Ray stopped him. "Just get to the damn point already."

"Right. Well, 3 students and a janitor. All in comas. They got owned, eh?"

"Shut up." Ray put his head in his hands and tried to think rationally. Unlike Zeke, Ray had some real concern about the news. He had moved to this town and come to this university because he had thought it was safe; a refuge. Knowing that there was something in this school that could cause comas made Ray's stomach twist into a knot. _They were probably just on drugs or something. They were doing idiotic things, that's all,_ he assured himself. If only he could quiet his uneasiness…

7:00

"Okay, everyone please turn to page 214 and read the next 5 pages. Can anyone give me a summary of the first three paragraphs?" Prof. Schneider droned. Alison let out a soft huff of impatience. History was _so_ boring. She stared at her desk and tried to tune out the pointless lecture by doodling on the grainy wood.

She was just starting to nod off when the door banged open and a man burst through the door. The student's face was white as a sheet, and his eyes looked wild beyond reason. He didn't look scared; he looked as if he had just seen the deepest pits of hell.

"ATTACK! WE'RE BEING ATTACKED!!! B-BY THESE MONSTERS! SOMEONE HELP US!! GOD! HELP US PLEASE!!!!!" he screamed, falling to his knees and his knuckles turning white as he clasped them together desperately. All the students and one teacher were frozen in their spots, eyes turned on the wailing student, none daring to even breathe. All except one.

Jessica stood up, proud and confident, and marched over to the crazy student. She raised her hand and slapped him so hard he clutched at his face.

"What do you think you're doing?! Interrupting a class like this in the middle of a period!" she raged. "Is this some kind of freaking sick joke?! GET OUT―NOW!" As Jessica continued yelling, her eyes flicked up past the student's shoulder for just a second. Instantly, her voice choked off into a gurgle. Alison saw her friend's eyes turning hollow like the student's, and it took her half a second to decide her next move. She crossed to the front of the room to stand beside her friend. Alison took a deep breath, opening her eyes to look at what Jessica had seen.

One lone figure. That was it. But Alison's throat closed in fear at the sight of it. Its shambling gait and decomposing skin pointed to only one word.

_Zombie._

It moaned, and started dragging itself towards them. And Alison was completely helpless; too terrified to move a single muscle. Then, everything happened very fast after that.

The next thing Alison knew, she was tearing down the hallway with no destination in mind; just to get away. She vaguely remembered her watch suddenly beeping its alarm, and that she had snapped out of her trance as soon as she'd heard it. She remembered Jessica beating her to the back door of the classroom…But worst of all, it was the screams erupting from the history class that she remembered the most clearly.

Tears of fright blinded her, clouded her vision, as she stumbled through the empty halls. She pulled open a door at random and fell into the room behind it. She didn't care where she was or what she was going to do anymore; there was nothing she could do. As the door swung shut, Alison crawled to the nearest corner and curled up into the fetal position. She closed her eyes and waited for death to come.

8:00

After Ray returned back to the dormitory from Latin class, he was shocked to find Zeke huddled in a lump on his bed.

"Hey, Zeke, man. What's wrong?"

"T-there was an attack on the s-school," Zeke stuttered.

"What? Attacked?" Ray sat down at the table in his dorm beside Zeke in camouflage cargo pants and a grey t-shirt.

"Y-yeah, doctors said the bodies had been dead for like, 2 hours then came back and killed a nurse. Chaos everywhere. P-people bitten, scratched and injured. C-crazy ass shit. I ain't going anywhere."

All of a sudden, Ray's eerie Call of Duty ringtone went off. He reached for it hesitantly, as if it might bite him. "Hello?"

"Oh god, Ray! It's chaos over here! Those freaks got all the way up here!" It was Mike, a buddy of Ray. His voice was hushed, yet it seemed like he was holding in a scream. "I'm in the library, behind some desks. Hopefully, they won't find me… But, the screaming, the moaning, and those footsteps… It's driving me crazy!" Ray listened closely. He could hear a steady groan in the distance. Come to think of it, it seemed to be getting closer. Then he heard a gasp.

"Shit, they're here. They've found me."

"What?" Ray asked. Suddenly, everything was quiet. Quiet as death. The only thing Ray could hear was the slogging footsteps and Mike's heavy breathing. Moments later, the footsteps stopped. The moaning started up again and then a single cry. Ray heard around half a dozen punches being thrown and some bone cracking before he heard a squishing sound. Then there was more screaming coming from Mike's end.

"HE BIT ME! WHAT??? THERE ARE MORE? NONONO! GOD, HELP ME!!!!" The last thing Ray heard before the phone disconnected was Mike's muffled cries and the horrible moans. Ray's face grew pale.

"I know what I have to do," Ray said to Zeke, "Whatever happens, stay here." He grabbed the Subject Zero documents and left Zeke alone in the dorm, shocked and very afraid.

Ray needed to speak with Alison about the outbreak. He hoped to God she was alright. He dashed through endless staircases and winding hallways. The moans and screams continuously got louder. She had history right now; the room right next to the library.

8:09

It had been almost 10 minutes and the moaning was driving him crazy. He finally reached the North Wing of the university. As he turned the corner to the janitor's office, there was one person standing in his way. It wasn't much of a person anymore, though. Its right leg was twisted at an impossible angle, and half of its left hand was missing. It wasn't difficult for Ray to guess what the monster was. It limped and moaned. God, this felt like a zombie horror flick.

Ray knew that staying calm was the always to key to survival. He tried to keep a straight head. _Sure, zombies…This'll be easy to deal with. How hard could it be to kill one?_

But as one of the zombie slowly shambled toward Ray, he started to panic. He frantically looked around for a weapon of some kind. _Come on, anything! _The moaning was getting to his head, distracting him from his desperate searching. He grabbed a mop left on the floor by the janitor and started pushing the zombie back.

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" Ray cried. The zombie repeatedly smashed into the mop, but wasn't backing off. Thinking quickly, Ray cracked the mop in half on his knee and stabbed one of the sharp ends through its chest. Ray smiled with satisfaction, but his eyes widened with disbelief as he realized that the zombie was only stunned. After only a few seconds, it resumed its continuous attack with the mop handle still sticking out of its heart.

"Goddamn it, how the hell do you stop these guys?" Ray muttered. He heard more groaning behind him. He twisted his head around. This zombie was his ex-girlfriend Kate Maxwell. All that was left of her vibrant red hair were a few twisted strands dangling from her decomposing scalp. Both zombies shifted in front him and reached out with their hands.

"Oh shit," Ray gasped. He realized that he had been backed against the wall of the hallway. He knew that he wasn't going to be able to fend off both zombies for long. At the last moment, he lurched to the side and made a run for it down the deserted corridor. Yelling out for help wouldn't aid him at all, since no one would be crazy enough to open any doors, and it might only attract more of the corpses. He concentrated his energy on keeping his footsteps quiet as he sprinted down the winding hall.

Suddenly, as if answering all his prayers, he caught sight of the door of the science classroom standing wide open on his right. Right before he ducked inside, he shot a look down the passage he had just ran from. The two zombies were still shuffling at a slow pace pretty far away. He quickly shut the door behind him. Ray leaned against the door and breathed a sigh of relief...until he heard the moaning inside the classroom. It was Dean, a well-known undergraduate. Ray threw the mop aside, knowing that it would be useless, and grabbed a crowbar lying on the floor. As the zombie hobbled closer to him, he stabbed through the zombie's eye. The zombie fell to the floor, becoming the dead corpse it was supposed to be.

Staring at the body, Ray paused to think. _Wait, why couldn't I kill the first zombie when I stabbed it through the chest? Why did the zombie only "die" when I stabbed it through the eye? _He pondered. _Of course! The zombie's eye must be a vital point. _He carefully stepped over the carcass and reached for the class phone.

8:20

Alison was trembling in the room―she soon found out it was a washroom―just a few doors down from the science room, wishing that she had never transferred to this stupid school. She jumped when she heard her ringtone break the silence.

"H-hello?" she whispered, as she flipped open her cell.

"It's Ray," a panting voice replied on the other end.

"Oh my god, Ray, where the heck have you been?!" Alison cried.

"Listen to me Alison; I'm in the science room. I have no clue what the hell happened, but three zombies attacked me."

"What are you frigging talking about?!" she demanded.

"You hear that stupid moaning?" he asked.

"No, I don't, why would―oh, wait," she listened carefully. Sure enough, there was a definite moaning coming from a distance. "Yeah, I hear them now. What do you mean by that?"

"That's them. I―" Ray began.

"What?!! They're that close?!"

"Listen! I killed one already but I need some help with the other two," Ray finished, "Where are you right now?"

"In the washroom. North wing."

"Great, that's just six doors down. Alison, I need you to―really quietly―make your way to the science room. Then knock on the door 4 times, and I'll let you in." Ray instructed. "If you go right now, you shouldn't have any trouble avoiding the zombies."

"What? You're crazy! I am _not_ risking my neck for that," Alison retorted, a shiver running down her spine as she remembered the sight of the zombie.

"No, I seriously need your help!" Ray exclaimed, exasperated.

"Why should I trust you?"

"I have some documents I printed off from Prof. Cooper's computer…I haven't looked at them yet, but you might want to see them.

_**More notes by The Crew.  
**_Midway through chapter 2, I convinced some of my other friends to join this project. These friends include Zack, Sean and Clara, not to mention our wonderful editor, Kelsie. And so, with 5 people to create the story, it will be 5 times better. I hope. Now, this chapter was only intended to give a brief layout of how the outbreak started, but, that wouldn't have been fun at all. So, after weeks of writing and editing 6 pages of work, this was the outcome. OH. and Sean says HI to eveyone reading. ;) And Zack is wondering why he's so smart. :)

**Quick note on Zack: **Well, I hope you know where Zack Black would've come from. Zack's character is based on my good friend and a member of The Crew. He's our dumb smart guy. Well, not dumb, but random, oblivious smart guy. Surprisingly, he's got a bunch of knowledge balled up in that thick skull of his. And I mean this literally and metaphorically. His headbutts hurt.

BTW! Please go to my account and take my poll. Should there be a love interest between Ray and Alison? Or any character in general? Take the poll and leave a comment please! ;)


	3. The Chaos Ensues

May 5th, 2010 - 8:25

Alison slowly stood up, her legs barely able to keep her up. She recalled Ray's instructions as she stared at the cell phone in her clenched hand… _Alison, I need you to―really quietly―make your way to the science room. Then knock on the door 4 times, and I'll let you in. _She already knew what she had to do. There wasn't any other option, was there? Before her fear could kick in again, she steeled herself and threw open the washroom door.

She was surprised to be blinded by the light of the hallway―she had forgotten that the washroom had been almost pitch dark earlier. Alison's eyes took a few moments to adjust, and then she saw…them. Two more of those repulsive corpses stumbling down the hall. She stopped dead in her tracks, her brain in a lock-down mode and cold sweat dribbling down her forehead. _Hold on, where am I supposed to go? The science room…Where's that? To the left? Wait, which way's left?_

Her feet came to the rescue and she lurched forward involuntarily. Alison's legs moved without her giving a conscious thought, and all her brain was capable of doing was making sure she didn't fall over. In a few seconds, she made her way to the science classroom, trying her best to not think about the zombies moaning behind her. Alison knocked on the wooden door, willing her hand to move faster. 1…2…3… On the last knock, Ray threw the door open immediately, pulling her inside.

"God, Alison, you okay?" Ray asked, his brow knotting with worry as he quickly shut the door.

"Y-yeah… I'm okay," Alison whispered. "J-just g-give me a few minutes." Ray sat down beside her and gave her an awkward pat on the back as she hugged her knees together.

8:30

Exhaling, Alison slowly got up and walked around, stretching her stiff joints.

"Well, I definitely handled _that_ better than the first time," she mumbled, taking on a small smile.

"Huh?"

"Oh, right! I forgot to tell you what happened in history class…" Alison relayed the entire incident to Ray, her words stumbling over each other as much as her legs did as she ran towards the science room.

"…Obviously, the only thing I could do after that was run, so I made a beeline for the back door and ran into the washroom," Alison explained. "I sure hope everyone else is okay, but I can't say the same for all those people who were in the history class," she shuddered, "Especially Jessica, I think she made it out before me, so―Oh my God, Jessica! I completely forgot about her!"

"What?"

"Jessica! She ran out the door before me, and I was too scared to pay attention to where she went!" Alison's eyes widened with horror. She tried to stand up and reach for the doorknob, but Ray grabbed her arm.

"What the hell are you doing?" Alison hissed. "Let go of me!"

"Like shit I will. Alison, take a moment to think before you do anything irrational, got it? We have no idea what we're up against. If we try to fight back without knowing anything about our enemy, we'd be gone for good. You want to end up like your history classmates?" Alison looked away. She shook her head slowly in response.

"Then please, just listen for a bit. If Jessica's smart, she's definitely still alive." Ray's voice softened. "But if she's not, there's nothing you can possibly do to help now." There was a long silence.

"B-but…I…she…Okay," Alison sighed and gave a quick glare at Ray. "Then what could we do for now?" she asked. In response, Ray pulled the printed document out from the back pocket of his slacks. He unfolded it and opened his mouth to speak. Suddenly, there was a slight creak above both of them. Ray's eyes darted upward toward the source of the sound. _What the heck? The ceiling?_ In the dimness of the science room, he could make out a dark shape behind the grating of the ventilation shaft. The thin grating gave another groan and started to buckle. _Oh crap! _Ray started, _An attack?_

CRASH! The grating collapsed in a shower of dust and debris as something tumbled out from the open air vent, landing right beside Alison. She gave a shriek and involuntarily jumped back a whole three feet. She quickly recovered herself long enough to recognize the figure that was dusting off his shirt.

"Zack?"

"Hey guys! Took you long enough to figure out who I was," Zack grinned. "So, what's up?"

"Augh, you scared the crap out of us, Zack!" Ray exclaimed. "Where have you been?"

"Oh really long story, but I'll shorten it as much as I can. So I was in the South Wing math class, and I start hearing screams coming from down the hall. A lot of freakish moaning, too. It was so easy to figure out what was going on, it wasn't even fun. Anyway, I was able to sneak to the back of the classroom since everyone was distracted by the noise. I opened the vent cover with my screwdriver," he rummaged in his jacket pocket and fished out a multi-tool with an assortment of screwdrivers, Allen wrenches, pins, knives, and other thingamajigs. "And I squished myself into it. I'd just replaced the cover when I heard the cries from my classmates. Wow, you wouldn't believe how big the ventilation ducts in this school are. I mean, it was only a bit squishy in there." Zack chuckled. Alison's face was a look of disgust.

"Okay, so you're explaining what happened during the attack, and you're LAUGHING? This sort of thing isn't a freaking game! It's life or death from now on. And have you even seen those freaks?" she ranted.

"No, of course I don't think this is a game," Zack blinked, clearly offended. "I just thought the situation was really down-and-out…I was trying to cheer you guys up. And also, since I had to travel through most of the shafts to get here, I have a pretty good idea what the zombies looked like when I saw them through the grating," he frowned.

"Did you see how many there were?" Ray suddenly asked.

"I definitely saw at least 4 different zombies―"

"I killed one in here." Ray gestured to an irregular mass on the floor that had been crudely covered with an opaque plastic sheet.

"Okay, then at least 3 zombies," Zack continued. "Oh, that's right! On my way to the science room, I passed over the gym storage. Check out my loot!" He pulled a large black bag that Ray and Alison hadn't noticed earlier out from behind him. Then he undid the drawstrings and dumped out its contents. Inside there was a rolled-up volleyball net, a baseball bat, a fire axe, a fire extinguisher, 2 jump ropes, and a set of power tools. Alison raised her eyebrow at the fire axe.

Zack looked around uncomfortably before answering, "Uh, don't tell anyone, but I know how to pick a pin-and-tumbler lock. The fire axe was in a glass case that would normally turn an alarm on if it was broken, but there was a lock on it, so I picked it with two paperclips."

"Alright, that's awesome, Zack. We might seriously need these later on. But for now, put everything except two weapons back in." Ray replied. "I already have a crowbar, but you two are going to need at least some sort of protection, too."

Zack nodded, and put aside the fire axe, as well as a nail gun and a box of 18 gauge nails from the power tool set. He took the heavier fire axe, and slid the nail gun set over to Alison. She picked up the gun and put the box into her pocket.

The nail gun was almost fully loaded, and she tested the weight of it in her hand. Alison gave it a test shot, aiming at a blank wall. The nail dug into the plaster several centimetres in.

"Ooh, nice. I think I could get used to this," she marvelled, staring at the gun.

"Be careful, seriously. It's not easy to aim with, so you might need to get in close-range with a zombie for it to work well. This is important for all of us to know. Always aim for the head; that's how I killed my first zombie." Ray stated. "Now, what was I saying before Zack came in?"

"The print-out, remember?" Alison prompted.

"Right." He held out the first page of the document and the three gathered around to read it.

**I've recently discovered a new substance. It's a virus called Solanum. Apparently, studies have shown that this virus works by traveling through a living creature's bloodstream. Once it has reached its final destination, the brain, the virus somehow uses the frontal lobe as a reproduction factory. This causes all bodily functions to cease, and the victim is considered "dead" there on out. Solanum mutates the brain into a completely different organ, reanimating the dead body to "live" without oxygen. I have been able to retain a small sample of this peculiar, but deadly virus, stored in my cabinet. And I must keep it under lock and key as soon as I find a good place to hide it…**

"Oh my God, what the hell is this?" Alison whispered, full of disbelief. Ray and Zack seemed just as shocked as she was.

"Well, I guess we all know how this whole thing happened…" Zack muttered.

"Huh?" Ray and Alison asked at the same time, their minds were still dazed and fuzzy. Then they remembered: the spill, the strange red liquid…

"Blood," Ray breathed, "The liquid was blood, wasn't it?" The dark red colour and the rusted smell; it all fitted.

"You know, if there was any sense in the world, I should just drop dead right now." Zack groaned. "Shit…I caused all this."

Alison gave Zack a comforting pat on the shoulder and murmured, "No, even though you were the one who knocked over the cabinet, I was the one who told you not to clean it up. This would've never happened if we had."

"Hey look, I'm the real one to blame here," Ray interrupted, "If I hadn't come up with the idiotic idea of looking in Prof. Cooper's classroom, this whole school wouldn't have ever turned into the madhouse it is now." They all stared at each other guiltily for a while without saying a word.

"Hmm, even if we all are to blame, we _are_ going to do something about it, right?" Alison asked. "I don't think we deserve to die yet if we still have the will to fight back."

A smile started to spread on Zack's face. "Yeah…I like the sound of that. She's got a point, we have a much higher chance of surviving if we want to live and kill these things." The atmosphere in the small room had changed from hopeless to almost eagerness.

Then Ray plunked himself down on a chair in front of the door.

"Well, it'll take a while for anyone with adequate zombie-killing equipment to show up here, so we might as well get as much rest as we can squeeze out of the time we have right now," he sighed. "You guys go sleep wherever is comfortable. I'll take the first watch."

Zack and Alison dropped off to sleep in a few minutes, slumped in their own corners, even though it was still the morning. Ray propped up his crowbar against the chair he was sitting on as he watched them, their faces free of the anxiety they had been facing earlier. They'd all been through so much in the past hour; sleep was something they definitely deserved.

9:20

A shrill cry of terror pierced the silence, startling Ray and jolting awake Zack and Alison. To Zack and Ray, the scream didn't mean anything very important: just another helpless victim that couldn't be saved. But Alison knew who it belonged to, the familiarity of the cry hurt to the very center of her chest. Before either of the men could move, she was running out the door.

"Jessica! JESSICA!" Alison yelled as she shot through the empty hall like a bullet, still clutching her nail gun tightly in her right hand. She knew that Ray and Zack would catch up to her in a few seconds―even with her brief head-start―but it didn't matter. Jessica was alive; and she was in serious trouble.

_**Crew Notes:  
**_Well, it was an odd Chapter. This time, Kelsie wrote the story! And I editted! XD  
It was quite unfortunate, as we were very pressed for time on releasing before the Victoria Day Weekend.

Well, some big news!  
1. It was Ray's birthday on May 24! He also got married the same weekend!  
2. It was Zack's birthday on May 24!  
3. It was my birthday on May 23! I got a pie in the face. :P  
4. Kelsie drew a Big Daddy and Little Sister from the game, Bioshock.  
5. Clara's totally magical. And a perfectionist. She was working on some art ALL WEEKEND!

**I NEED YOUR HELP EVERYONE! PLEASE, IF YOU READ THIS, TRY TO GET MORE PEOPLE TO READ IT! Send it by E-mail, Facebook, Twitter, Text or print a copy out for a friend and have them give feedback from you to me :)**


	4. To All You Readers, I am Sorry

Hello everyone who has read and subscribed (subscribed? I don't know how else to put it) to this story. I am sorry to inform you all that this project cannot go on. Between the work and studying for school, I just can't seem to fit any time in to write or get ideas. As much as I hate to say this, I think I have to shut this project down. Once again, sorry.


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